Watersports abound around the Quincy area, with many lakes in combination with the Columbia River to choose from your watersport experience is neverending! The Quincy are offers plenty to do on t...

Ancient Quincy Lakes

Ancient Lakes hike is flat-out excellent for easy adventure - By KAREN SYKES SPECIAL TO THE POST-INTELLIGENCER - It still feels like March on the western side of the Cascades....

Sunrise in Quincy

Sunrise in Quincy is a breathtaking thing to behold! Quincy is located in Central Washington with close proximity to winter and summer activities. The area offers boating, water skiing, hunting, fishi...

Local Venues

The Gorge Amphitheatre is a 25,000 seat concert venue located above the Columbia River Gorge in George, Washington. Administered by LiveNation, it is considered one of the premier and most sceni...

Plan now to attend the QVTA Trout Fishing Derby!

Anglers of all ages are invited to participate in the Quincy Valley Tourism Association’s annual Trout Derby on March 7th 2015.

QUNICY VALLEY TOURISM MEDIA CONTACT: Cari Mathews (509) 787-2140

SPONSORS

Quincy Valley Chamber ~ Hooked on Toys

Quincy Hardware & Lumber ~ Sportsmans Warehouse

Lots of fun for the entire family!!

This year's Quincy Valley Tourism Association Trout Derby will be held on Saturday, March 7th on Burke Lake. The Derby will provide a lot of fun for the entire family and, hopefully, a lucky fisherman may catch one of the special tagged Trout worth $500, $1000.00 or $2000.00! We will also stock the lake with approximately 1200 trout.

Directions: From Hwy 28 west of Quincy near mile post 25 go south on White Trail Road (also known as Rd U NW.) go about 5 miles to the entrance to the Quincy Lakes area on the right. From Hwy 281 (about halfway between Quincy And George) turn west on White Trail Road (also known as Road 5) at Colockum Ridge Golf Course to the entrance to the Quincy Lakes area on the left side of the road. When entering the Quincy Lakes area, it is about 2 miles to the end of Burke Lake.

Fees and Registration:

Registration fees are $25.00 per licensed adult 16 & over and $10.00 per child 15 and under. Participants may pre-register at: The Quincy Valley Chamber, Quincy Hardware and Lumber, Hooked on Toys and Sportsman’s Warehouse (in Wenatchee), or on site no later than 9:00 a.m. on the day of the derby at The QVTA Fishing Derby Trailer located at the west end of Burke Lake.

Awards:

Person catching the $500, $1000.00 or $2000.00 fish will be paid by check according to insurance company policies. All other prizes will be awarded on the same day of the catch and void after June 1st, 2015. Winning contestants may be asked to furnish a social security number to the Quincy Valley Chamber of Commerce upon request.

Any tagged fish not caught during the Derby, they will be worth $50 respectively through May 31, 2015.

Prizes for heaviest fish and cumulative weight of catch also! (Adult & Youth Divisions) These awards will be presented immediately following final weigh-in (allowing time to tabulate winners).

Lots of fun for the entire family!!

For a complete set of rules and registration forms, visit our website at: www.quincyvalleytourism.org or call Quincy Valley Chamber of Commerce at (509) 787-2140 or visit the chamber office at 119 F Street SE

ENTRY FORM / WAIVER Sponsors, nor their agents, the Quincy Valley Chamber of Commerce, nor it's members, the City of Quincy or its employees, Grant County, Grant County PUD, Washington State, nor any of the Sponsors accepts any responsibility for loss, damage or injury to any vehicle, vessel, boat, equipment, contestant, passengers, guests, or observers during this event. By purchase of a Derby ticket or volunteering in any capacity, you release and discharge the Quincy Valley Chamber of Commerce and it's members, the Sponsors and all their associated affiliates and employees, for any and all judgements and/or claims from any cause whatsoever that may be suffered by an entrant to his/her person and/or property. The signature on this entry form denotes the agreement with all rules and waivers of liability by the above mentioned. Any entrant under 18 years of age requires the signature of a parent on the application.

This year's Quincy Valley Tourism Association Trout Derby will be held on Saturday, March 7th on Burke Lake. The Derby will provide a lot of fun for the entire family and, hopefully, a lucky fisherman may catch one of the special tagged Trout worth $500, $1000.00 or $2000.00! We will also stock the lake with approximately 1200 trout.

There’s Something Special About Evergreen Reservoir

By Dave Graybill

Whenever I suggest a trip to Evergreen Reservoir, my wife Eileen’s eyes light up. She knows were bound to catch smallmouth and largemouth bass. We’ve had our best day of bass fishing ever at Evergreen. There’s always chance, a slim one to be sure, that we’ll even tangle with a tiger muskie. These tigers add a touch of anticipation to Evergreen that most other bass waters don’t offer: great smallmouth and largemouth bass with tiger musky thrown in—that’s Evergreen.

My wife Eileen and I made our first trip to Evergreen eight years ago. We motored all over the lake and eventually found a bunch of eager largemouth that couldn’t resist the Kiwi leech that she dug out of the tackle box. We’ve been hooked ever since. We have found that we can find largemouth and smallmouth bass from one end of the lake to the other. Sometimes the fishing has been slow, but when Evergreen is on, it is really on and the bass action can be fantastic.

Evergreen is just built for it. The long shorelines offer a variety of bass-holding water, with steep basalt walls that have broken rock piles at their base, and there are some shallow bays surrounded by weed lines and brush. There are enough likely looking hiding places for bass to keep an angler busy all day. Since the 1.5 mile-long lake has 235 acres to explore.

I don’t claim to be an expert when it comes to bass fishing, but my wife and I have found a couple of methods that have proven successful. We started here as rookies and have learned some simple ways to catch fish. It doesn’t take complicated gear or techniques for the two of us to have a lot of fun catching bass at Evergreen.

The first method we came up eight years ago was just casting a leech on a worm hook with a split shot about 18 inches up the line. This seems to work best when we cast these along weed beds in the bays. We just toss them close to shore and work them back to the boat. We also tend to do better on the smallmouth when we are using this method.

Our best largemouth bass catches were made with a similar method. The difference was we used a plastic worm instead of a leech. We eased ourselves along the south shore. I kept the boat in 16 to 20 feet of water and cast close to shore. In most places we would be bouncing the worm down the slope of broken rock. In others there would be a shale slide that sloped into the depths. Every once in a while, when we lifted our rods to move the worm, it would seem heavy. That meant that a big largemouth had inhaled the worm. We would set the hook and the battle would begin!

Another good method while fishing the same kind of structure is to fish stick baits. These don’t require a split shot and don’t hang up at all. These plastic baits can be cast, allowed to sink and then twitched. I have found that the slower I fish these baits the better success I have. It is important to watch your line when fishing with these baits. When the line moves, twitches or bounces—set the hook.

To fish a leech, worm or stick bait, it is best to use a hook that is designed to be used with them. Most manufacturers will recommend a hook style and size to use with their baits. If you use a line test of 10-pound or even heavier, you will get your hook back more often if you get hung up. I have fished all three of these different baits with the same rod and reel; an 8 ½-foot spinning rod and spinning reel. It does the job.

There are a lot of anglers who fish Evergreen who favor top water lures, crank baits or jerk baits. There are times when these are very effective. They can also increase your odds of doing business with a tiger muskie. Most of the tiger muskie at Evergreen are hooked when people are fishing for something else. That’s what happened to me. I had just finished fishing the south shore for bass and had worked my way to the west end of the lake. I had launched at the east end, and so I decided to troll a couple of crank baits over some water that could possibly hold some walleye. I pointed the boat up lake, set the trolling motor and cast one line out with a medium diving lure and put it in the rod holder. While I was rigging the second rod for us I heard a funny noise. It was the line peeling off the reel!

I threw the rod I was rigging down and grabbed the rod that was bouncing in the rod holder. I thought I’d hooked a big walleye, but this fish just wasn’t coming in. It circled the boat twice before I got a look at it. All I could see was a big, brown shape at first, and then I could see those tiger musky stripes and that big toothy head. I was thinking I needed to get the tiger a little closer to the boat when out of the corner of my eye I saw a net shoot out and under the fish! Eileen had the net and somehow managed to get that overlarge fish into it and into the boat. Wow. The fish turned out to be 33 inches long. It was just three inches short of being a keeper. No matter. We let it swim away and celebrated. It was a great way to end the day.

Not every day at Evergreen is going to turn out this way, but the possibility is always there. This is what keeps us looking forward to our next trip to the reservoir. From spring through fall the bass are waiting, and the tiger musky, well, you never know.

Evergreen is one of the lakes in the Quincy Wildlife Area, and that’s means it’s a quick trip from Wenatchee. There are two improved launches at the lake. One launch is at the west end that is accessed from the main road to the Quincy lakes off White Trail Road. The other is reached from Highway 281, the main highway from Quincy to George. Both are served by good gravel roads and the parking areas include pit toilets. Keep an eye on the weather forecast for wind when planning a trip to Evergreen. High winds can really spoil your day here.